The event at Loch Leven RSPB was opened by Duncan Orr-Ewing, Head of Species and Land Management, RSPB Scotland ... with good speeches also from Ian Thomson and Guy Shorrock , both stalwart RSPB workers in the Investigations departments ...
... Henry Hen Harrier looked on ...
... we then heard from Mairi Gougeon ( formerly Mairi Evans ) MSP ... great to have a politician present ... and one who spoke up for wildlife ...
... we learned that the Scottish Parliament has instigated a series of Species Champions ... MSPs who take a special interest in promoting the well-being of vulnerable species ..
... and Mairi is the Hen Harrier Species Champion ! ...
Well done Mairi and well done the Scottish Parliament !
What a contrast with the shameful proceedings in Westminster Hall last winter when Mark Avery's petition to Ban Driven Grouse Shooting triggered a debate which was conducted with utter contempt ... the chairman opened the debate with flagrant bias towards Grouse Shooting while Therese Coffey rummaged in her handbag before delivering some gabbled closing remarks dismissing the 123 thousand strong petition out of hand ... this completely flew in the face of Natural Justice ...
The Boat of Garten Hen Harrier Day was opened by Mark Avery who spoke with his usual clarity and commitment ...
... again Ian Thomson ... visibly fired up ... and this time with a promise to reveal in his blog the inexplicable failure of the Scottish Crown Office to prosecute the gamekeeper filmed shooting a Hen Harrier ...
For me the most powerful presentation was by the redoubtable Ruth Tingay ... it focused on Wilful Blindness ...
Wilful Blindness ( willful is more American ) is where people choose not to see uncomfortable truths ( e.g. Saville, Rochdale, Rebekah Brooks ... and the rest ) ...
This Wilful Blindness ... she told us ... is operating around the illegal killing of Raptors ...
I had heard her speak on this same matter the day before ... a strong message worth hearing again ...
It was then the turn of Peter Argyle from the Cairngorm National Park Authority ... remember them ? ... remember those images of truck loads of dead Mountain Hares killed within the Park ?
He had the cut of a man defending an indefensible position ...
Harry Huyton , Director of OneKind was eloquent and impassioned and spoke of the right kind of partnerships that can be forged in order to help stop the killing ... the illegal killing of Hen Harriers ...
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